The problem with REITs is in all their sectors:
Residential: If you want a 2% yield, just buy a bond fund.
Office: A very cyclical bet, and just as the internet is making WFH possible for more employees.
Industrial: Cyclical.
Retail: Most retail space is being made obsolete by online shopping, and it is very overbuilt. Malls need to be torn down, not invested in.
Healthcare: Looks like Trump will win a 2nd term, which means lower Medicare/Medicaid reimbursement rates for hospitals and nursing homes. Contrary to popular opinion, they can and do go bust all the time. I might bite if a Democrat somehow won, because at least things wouldn't get too much worse for healthcare operators.
Mortgage: Good fucking god, did we learn nothing in 2008?
Meanwhile, MLPs are a bet on the future of fossil fuels, which are experiencing both declining demand and overcapacity.